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A Look at the Presidential Race; Thousands Forced to Shelters in North Carolina; Ivanka Trump Hits Campaign Trail. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 14, 2016 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come here in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump's path to 270 electoral votes looking more and more narrow as reliably red states threat to turn purple.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow, in today for Carol Costello. So glad you're with us.

Donald Trump fighting back multiple claim of sexual misconduct dating back to the '70s. His campaign denying all of the allegations against him.

Meantime, take a look at the latest battleground state polls conducted after the tape of Donald Trump's lewd and sexually aggressive comments about women surfaced, and after his accusers started coming forth. In North Carolina, a state that Mitt Romney carried in 2012, Trump is down four points. We should note that's a three-way race because Jill Stein didn't qualify to make the ballot there.

[09:35:02] The news slightly better for Trump in Ohio, where he holds a one-point lead over Hillary Clinton in a four-way race. Trump is also under pressure in typically reliably red Arizona after prominent Republican John McCain pulled his endorsement of Trump, and the state's largest newspaper endorsed Hillary Clinton. Notable because that's the first time that newspaper has ever supported a Democratic candidate.

Robert Graham is with me. He's chairman of Arizona's Republican Party.

Thank you for being here.

ROBERT GRAHAM, CHAIRMAN, ARIZONA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Hey, it's good to be here. Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: We know that Donald Trump has run anything but a typical campaign. We saw that all through the primary. And it's behooved him. He said he would - he would put new states in play. But the thing is, it appears those states, 24 days out from election day, are reliably red states. You've got a tie in Utah, which is stunning right now between Clinton and Trump. You've got Arizona, much, much smaller margin for the Republican candidate than it was for Mitt Romney in 2012. And you've got Georgia in play. Where do you see the road to 270 right now?

GRAHAM: Well, in our particular case is, you know, it's a mobilization effort. You talk about Trump not running a traditional campaign. What we're finding is on the ground with the - with the state parties, we are running traditional campaigns. Like in Arizona, for instance, we have 21 field offices. We outpace the Democrats by voter registration by 175,000 voter registrations and then we mobilize. And we're better funded. And so we've got thousands of volunteers and paid workers -

HARLOW: But where do you see his path? Where do you see his path to 270?

GRAHAM: Well, this is it. You know, well that's where - that's where you talk about the states and the importance of the states. If Arizona's doing their part, if George's doing their part, if North Carolina's doing their part, then we lift the campaign and that's what's happening. We've actually seen a significant turn.

HARLOW: So you don't buy the poll? It sounds like you don't buy the poll numbers, is that right?

GRAHAM: No. But if you look at the poll numbers today, they're actually improving for him statewide. They're improving for him nationwide. So what's happened now is back to some comments that were made earlier, is people want to get back to jobs and the issues that are important to America and they're exhausted. And so he - even though he's addressing these issues, he's also talking specifically about the key points that are - that American need and they want. They want to take the pressure off taxpayers. That's what they want.

HARLOW: What - what poll numbers are you talking about where he's improving? Because I'm looking at a brand new Fox News poll that has him behind seven points nationally, that has him down 19 points with female voters. It has him down ten points among suburban women in just a week.

GRAHAM: Well, here's the interesting thing about polling. You want to see how they're sampling, how they're tagging the polls. Emerson College, for instance, put out a poll and they polled Arizona and they put 55 percent Obama likely voters and 45 percent Romney. That poll's (INAUDIBLE) from the beginning.

HARLOW: Yes. So, no, I was actually just asking - I'm just going to stop you there because I was asking you about the poll you mentioned -

GRAHAM: Yes.

HARLOW: That you said was more accurate than the polls we're showing. So what poll is that?

GRAHAM: No, what I said is that you're seeing the polls improve every single night. Parties like the AZ GOP and nationally, we do surveys every single night. We've seen a lift. We've seen - actually Hillary Clinton actually decline from 14 points to nine with likely women voters in the GOP and independents. So, nationally, you're seeing this trend happen.

If you look at site that aggregate, like Real Clear Politics and others, you'll see that even the Electoral College shifted overnight by almost eight votes toward Trump. And so when you start seeing these consistent news pieces, I mean it's one thing to quote one particular poll, but there's a number of averages out there and the averages tend to work more in favor with Donald Trump right now.

HARLOW: OK. Just so our viewers know, there are certain polls that media outlets, including CNN, use, and we don't use web polls, OK, because people can go on and vote as many times as possible. There are certain polls that meet our standards and certain ones that don't. You just mentioned one that doesn't.

Let's just quickly listen to what President Obama said yesterday about people like Senator -- Republican Senator John McCain from your state pulling back their endorsement of Donald Trump, basically saying it's too little, too late.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, they don't get credit for at the very last minute, when finally the guy that they nominated and they endorsed and they supported is caught on tape saying things that no decent person would even think, much less say, much less brag about, much less laugh about or joke about, much less act on. You can't wait until that finally happens and then say, oh, that's too much, that's enough, and think that somehow you are showing any kind of leadership and deserve to be elected to the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So talking about John McCain specifically. He's a well- respected senior senator in your state. Do you think he was wrong to walk away from Donald Trump then?

[09:39:59] GRAHAM: No. I think - I think Senator McCain's calculus is very different than somebody like my calculus. Senator McCain's elected by the people that represents - he represents the entire state of Arizona. My calculus is I'm elected by the Republican Party to get our nominees elected. So what I have to do, is I have to starkly contrast between the two candidates. And it's easy for me with Hillary Clinton's dishonest behavior for the last 30 years. So when I look at all the appointments that a said president's going to have the opportunity to make, it's my job to defend what I believe is the wrong president. So I don't want Hillary as a candidate and I do want Donald Trump as a candidate.

HARLOW: So you're saying John McCain is not wrong to walk away from Donald Trump, and you're the chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Are you then buying into the Paul Ryan school of thought then, saying you just got to be sort of out for yourself and out for down ballot?

GRAHAM: No, actually, here's the thing, is I think, you know, each one of our candidates, each one of our electeds have a different calculus. They're working hard to have the best outcome. We want to protect the Senate. We want to protect the House. But what we're seeing now as it relates to Arizona specifically and Senator McCain's comments, is that he can do it. He's up 17 points. He's doing his thing. Donald Trump is moving forward and he's making great progress here in the states.

I don't think there's ultimately anything wrong with people making opinions and I found in politician is not the greatest habit to make opinions about other people's opinions. But what I can tell you definition wise, nationwide is the groundswell is remarkable with voter registration both and the ground games that we have as Republicans. The intensity is way, way, way higher for Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Robert, I got to leave it there. A lot more to get through, so do come back and join us again.

GRAHAM: OK.

HARLOW: Thank you.

GRAHAM: All right.

HARLOW: Robert Graham.

GRAHAM: Yes, thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: Still to come, it has been one week since Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina and the number of storm related deaths still rising. We will take you live there after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:53] HARLOW: Rising floodwaters, thousands of people still living in shelters, and many more evacuations now underway. A week after the storm hit North Carolina, it's still fighting the horrifying effects of Hurricane Matthew. Look at this drone video. Boats are being used to navigate down neighborhood streets. This is a week after the storm hit.

Our Polo Sandoval joins me now live from Kinston, North Carolina.

Unbelievable the devastating impact that it continues to take.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, Poppy, you saw it from the air. This is what it looks like from the ground here in Kinston, North Carolina. A riverside community that is virtually split. And this is why. One of the major bridge that goes over the Noose (ph) River here in Kinston has been shut down because the Noose River is slowly rising. It's expected to crest later today.

How are officials monitoring the situation? It's very basic, Poppy. Let me show you how. One FEMA official just described for me what they did yesterday. They came out here and they basically spray painted this post every foot with those orange markings. They do expect it to perhaps reach a little closer to this spot right here. That would actually break the record that was previously set back in 1999 when it reached about 27.7 feet when Hurricane Floyd swept through the area. And believe it or not as we hear from some of the local officials

here, including the mayor himself, he says that that hurricane back then was actually an eye opener. Something positive, because many people who call this place home saw the damaging and potential or even the deadly potential of what a hurricane and its followed flooding did actually bring and that's why there were so many people ready, so many people evacuated. But yet officials are saying that if you do live along the river, Poppy, you should still evacuate. This river will continue to rise into tonight.

HARLOW: Gosh, we're looking at this image of a business almost submerged in water still a week later.

Polo, thank you very much for the reporting. Keep us posted from North Carolina.

Still to come, one of Donald Trump's top surrogates hits the trail. Ivanka Trump, his daughter. Is she the key to Trump closing that gap with female voters? What can she do for him 24 days out? We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:25] HARLOW: Welcome back.

Ivanka Trump returns to the campaign trail amid allegations that her father sexually assaulted multiple women. Allegations the Trump camp vehemently denies. This time she hit the suburbs of the crucial state of Pennsylvania in an effort to court women voters. Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump gets the raucous crowds, but his daughter's trip on the trail is speaking volumes. Ivanka Trump's whirlwind schedule is targeting the areas likely to determine whether her father becomes president, the suburbs of Philadelphia.

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I wouldn't be able to go into the office every day if I didn't have a safe place to bring my child.

BASH: She played it very safe, fielding several of the same softballs at multiple events, like why she thinks her father would make a good president, then darting out, ignoring our attempts to ask questions, first in Chester County -

BASH (on camera): Ivanka, what was your reaction when you heard your father's tape?

BASH (voice-over): And again later in Delaware County.

BASH (on camera): Ivanka, can you answer a question?

BASH (voice-over): She preaches to the choir. Pennsylvania women already all in for Trump, despite his lewd language caught on tape and the new multiple allegations of groping.

JESSICA CURTIS, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: I'm voting for Donald Trump.

BASH (on camera): You sound a little reluctant when you say that.

CURTIS: Well, I think it's just been a hard road.

MELISSA BRAITHWAITE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: He wasn't saying what he does to women per se. I think he was just bragging.

BASH (voice-over): Team Trump is hoping local media coverage will help with the political reality not reflected inside these suburban Philly events. GOP officials privately tell us that Donald Trump's 2005 comments hurt him big-time here, especially among women. A new poll shows Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by a whopping 43 percent among female voters right here in the Philly suburbs.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The suburbs of Philadelphia, because we got to get that vote. We want to get that vote.

MARLENE FURGIUELE-MENTZER, MEMBER, WOMEN FOR TRUMP: Donald Trump is the change candidate and the right person to get things done.

BASH: A group called Women for Trump is feverishly trying to do just that, even those who are not thrilled with his behavior.

FURGIUELE-MENTZER: I'm a feminist and, of course, it bothered me. However, the topics that are facing this country are far greater than the words on that tape.

BASH: On the suburban Philadelphia streets, some female Trump supporters say they're motivated by their opposition to Hillary Clinton.

COLLEN GREEN, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: Yes, I think she's a liar. I think she's a fraud. I think she covers up a lot of things.

BASH: But the owner of this yoga studio in Westchester, PA, says her female clients are now more likely to vote Hillary.

[09:55:03] SUSAN SLUK, OWNER OF EAT, DRINK, OM: I'm hearing a lot of women that are really starting to dig their heels in and feel empowered about themselves based upon what's happening in the campaign.

BASH: Even some who say she is hardly their first choice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it were any other Republican candidate, maybe I would like try to write Bernie in, but it's just not the time for a protest vote.

BASH: Democrats at this Clinton phone bank say Trump is making their jobs easier.

DR. VAI ARKOOSH, COMMISSIONER OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: A number of people have said to me that what was sort of a, I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Secretary Clinton, has now turned into steadfast support.

BASH: The question is whether Ivanka or any Trump can turn that around in under four weeks.

Dana Bash, CNN, Malvern, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Dana, thank you for that.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins after a short break.

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